1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to terminals for games organized on a national scale, such as lottery games, lotto totalizers or the like.
2. Related Art
Such terminals generally form part of systems for placing bets.
A system for placing bets generally includes terminals for placing bets located in gaming offices visited by the players who deposit at these offices gaming coupons which they have completed, together with the handing-over of a sum of money corresponding to the stake which they wager.
In exchange they receive a receipt which they keep until the draw.
The bet-placing terminals are either linked by a communication network to a central processing system or server centre and are so-called "on line" terminals, or autonomous so-called "off line" terminals.
The gaming terminals are ordinarily equipped with devices for analyzing gaming coupons and often with separate devices for analysing receipts for determining, after the draw, the bearers of receipts who should receive winnings, together with the amounts of these winnings.
The processing of a gaming coupon is carried out by inserting this coupon into a coupon analysis device of a terminal.
This coupon is analysed in pixels and the image obtained is processed digitally.
The aforesaid processing determines the type of coupon, the type of marks or signs written on the coupon by the players, and prepares a coded frame which is transmitted to the central processing system which records the corresponding transaction in a memory.
Once the transaction is recorded, a validation code is sent to the terminal which prints a receipt which marks the commitment of the gaming body towards the player of payment in the event of a win.
The terminal furthermore includes means for analyzing the receipt after the draw in order to determine whether the bearer of the receipt has won or not.
After reading the receipt, the coded numeral which it bears is transmitted by the terminal to the central system which interrogates the file of winners.
If the numeral of the receipt in question appears in the file, permission for payment is transmitted to the corresponding terminal.